University of Arkansas Discovery Zone

We visited the University of Arkansas Discovery Zone last week to learn about nanotechnology.

The place is small (and very hard to spot!) but packed full of wonderful interactive displays! The exhibits change every few months, so I plan to go back fairly soon.

Below, my "mad scientist"!

And my itty scientist!

I think it was way over the little ones' heads, but they still enjoyed the activities!

Pumpkin Carving

I have bad luck with knives, y'all, so I figured we should buy one of those nifty little craving kits.
You'll be happy to hear, I only cut myself once, and it was very minor.

Our friends weren't quite so scared of the knives!

Scooping out the "guts." Such a BOY thing to take pleasure in. The girls decided to paint their pumpkins instead...

Some of the kids with their finished products. We completed several more elaborate ones when we got home. Pictures to come!

Glow Dough

Glow Dough!

It's as easy as black lights and neon playdough!

The orange and yellow glow wonderfully. The white one, not so much.

We ALL enjoyed this! :D

Mutton Bustin'

Does everyone know what Mutton Bustin' is? No? I didn't either.
It's like a rodeo, but instead of guys riding bulls, little kids ride sheep. Yes, I'm serious.

We went to our first Mutton Bustin' event over the weekend, to watch some little friends of our compete.

These little girls stayed on like little champs! It was an interesting event to watch. Entertaining, yes. Many of the kids, like Sarah, walked away excited and happy. But there were many more that limped away crying. Ow! Several 4-years old were stepped on by the sheep after being bucked off. I can tell you one thing-- MY 4-year old won't be out there riding sheep anytime soon! My 6-year old daredevil is dying to try it, though, and I'm really considering the possibility for next year. We'll see.



We ended our fair experience admiring all the old shiny cars in the show.

A Penned Portrait

I worked on a pen sketch of my sweet artist friend this evening, while I watched Frasier with Fred. Basic pen sketch, almost no shading, slightly warped "frame." But I like it.I'll go in close, to show her beautiful eyes (and the nitty gritty of coloring with pens.)

I've always believed that artwork is what you make it.
It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful, as the Nester likes to say.

About 3 weeks late-- Happy Birthday, my beautiful friend Bekah.

You and your family continue to inspire me.

Popsicle Matching Game& update

What's been keeping us busy/Reasons for less frequent blogging:
1. MyOldest is in middle school now (how did that happen) and it seriously only occurred to me a few months ago. So, we're now involved in both the elementary and middle school homeschool groups, which keeps me hopping a bit faster. I guess now is the time to be thankful that she's an introvert, and really prefers to stay home most of the time. I'm not sure how our family could handle another extrovert. ;)

2. I'm trying to be purposeful about spending enough time with my little ones, especially planning activities for them during school. They simply don't have the ability to work with us at the table or on experiments all day long. So, I've been utilizing pinterest for craft/learning/sensory activities, especially for the Littlest. This Popsicle matching game is one example. He loves it.

3. My little niece and nephew get here at about 6am every morning, so Fred wakes me up at 5:30 when he leaves for work. Naturally, this is forcing me to go to bed earlier, and accomplish more earlier in the evening. I.Can.Do.It.

4. My Oldest (6th) is doing SOS history this year, Teaching Textbooks for math, and her third year of typing all of which are computer programs. My Oldest Boy (4th grade) also does Teaching Textbooks and is starting typing this year. I also let the littler ones play on Poisson Rouge and Starfall during the day, for a bit. This leaves very little computer time during the day for moi, which is fine.




5. Planning field trips and activities this year just takes some time. It's not a requirement of my job, but a perk. I have been funneling some of my housework time into it, though, which means there are leftover chores at the end of the day. Need to find a balance there. It seems like I'm perpetually behind on laundry!

Creative snail mail

Instead of writing their journal prompts this morning, I had the kids write letters instead. Letter-writing is such a lost art.
To make it more fun, we drew pictures to go with our letters, and I used a thick Sharpie to decorate the envelopes, too.

Even the kids got into the envelope art. My sweet MiddleBoy (6) did the envelope below for his Poppy.


Everyone loves to get mail, and it's such a personal way to communicate.

I've saved my Mimi's letters, and can recognize her handwriting on anything...

Send some funky mail, y'all! People cherish and appreciate it more than you may realize. :)